Facebook Messenger is getting a neat update today on Andriod and iOS, according to TechCrunch: you can now poll your friends.
The feature only works for group chats (because polling a two people is silly), and works just like you’d expect: type in a question and some possible responses.
There are a few obvious uses. Picking a restaurant comes to mind; I’ve had multiple birthday party groups in excess of 20 people. You could also present dates for a trip, ask for opinions on a particular topic, etc. People are also more likely to contribute their thoughts if they can just tap an option instead of writing a message out.
On another note, Facebook is introducing a ‘chat assist’ tool that uses machine learning to help you pay people back. Type in something like “could you send me the $37,000 bucks you owe me,” and messenger will prompt your friend to pay you back via its own payments feature.
While it adds a small does of convenience, it’s also a way for Facebook to onboard more users onto its payments system. I use Venmo for most transaction with friends and have no reason to change; I suspect many feel the same way. However, if a friend reminds me to pay something through Messenger and I’m immediately prompted, I might be more tempted to go with Facebook’s method instead.
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The features are rolling out in the US, and Facebook could bring it to other countries depending on how they work out.
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